Ginji, Asch, and an Albiore
by Dragnotchi
Summary: The hiring was easy, the hard part was living with his employee. Ginji, Asch, an Albiore, and the chaos that is sure to meet them.
1. The 'Hiring'

**Ginji, Asch, and an Albiore  
**One – The "Hiring"  
_Rewritten December 1__st__, 2008_

* * *

"Ginji, go screw in that light bulb," a silver-haired man muttered furiously as he trekked through the barren plateaus that made up the Meggiora Highlands. In one hand he was holding a battered red toolbox. The other hand was scrubbing at his hair in agitation as he continued on his journey. "Ginji, go fetch me that wrench. Ginji, run down to research and see if they've figured out where those blueprints were. Ginji, go get the Albiore from the _middle of nowhere_."

The pilot had made the long journey from Sheridan to the resting-place of the Albiore III in a little under three hours. His face was coated with dirt and sweat, and exasperation was written clearly over his features. Leave it to Aston to take the airship on a test flight, crash it, and expect Ginji to do all of the repairs. It wasn't as though the pilot was trying to cram in some time with his sister before she left again, oh no, Ginji just had a wealth of free time that Aston could take advantage of.

Ginji let the toolbox fall to the ground with an undignified clatter as he surveyed the damage done to the Albiore. It wasn't as extensive as Aston had made it out to be, but Ginji was positive that he wouldn't be able to make the dinner plans he'd had with Noelle. The engine on the right wing was hanging at an odd angle, only suspended by a few wires, and sending off a spray of sparks every few seconds. The rest of the ship had a few minor dents and holes, and they could take a backseat until he'd dealt with the engine.

Taking off his jacket, Ginji dropped it on the ground near his toolbox. He then took a second to make sure that there were no monsters in range of him (he sported a large gash over his right eye where one beast had scratched him on his way there) before getting down to work.

Three hours in, Ginji had repaired some damage done to the steering wheel, made sure that the flightstone was still fully functional, and was now working on getting the engine on the right wing working. There were parts scattered around the wing, and the engine itself was now resting on the rocky ground below. Ginji was lying atop the wing on his stomach, half of his torso over the gap where the engine had been, his hands busy with tying a few wires together. The sparks that had been present earlier were now absent, and he took this as a good sign.

Ginji was so engrossed in his work that he didn't immediately notice he was being watched. Attempting to weld a broken pipe together, Ginji missed the sound of boots clacking over the hard ground over the blowtorch's hum. His back was turned away from the world, so he didn't see the man approaching. It wasn't until he dropped to the ground in order to grab one of the sections of metal plating strewn there that he realized he had company.

The man who was standing before him had dark red hair and a face that looked vaguely familiar, though Ginji couldn't quite place where he'd seen it before. A sword hung at the man's side, and Ginji felt a nervous prickle sweep up his spine. Cautiously, he grabbed a wrench from his tool belt, feeling slightly better when the cool metal was in his hands.

"Who are you?" He asked, standing tall in front of the Albiore, despite the shakes that were wracking his body. The man surveyed him with cold eyes.

"Are you Ginji?" The stranger inquired, not even bothering to make eye contact. He began to circle the Albiore, a deep scowl imprinted on his face. Ginji followed a few paces behind him, heart fluttering nervously in his chest.

"I am Ginji," he replied cautiously after they'd made a full circle around the airship.

The man nodded mutely, taking a few strides up to the Albiore. He kicked a few screws on the ground, arms crossed over his chest. "Can this piece of junk even fly?" He grunted.

"The Albiore is not a piece of junk!" Ginji cried indignantly. The man glared at him, and he took a step back. "I mean, it's not in the best of shape right now, but that doesn't mean it can't fly."

The man looked the airship up and down thoughtfully before shrugging his shoulders and sighing. "I need your services," he admitted grudgingly. "A man back in Sheridan said that you could fly me where I needed to go."

"I can't help you right now," Ginji said, placing his wrench back into his tool belt and resting his hands on his hips. "I could probably give you a lift in a few days; you could stay at the inn at Sheridan for the time being, they've got wonderful soup… there…"

The man was glaring at him again, and Ginji swallowed the lump in his throat. The man seemed as though he would never be satisfied with anything, and Ginji vaguely wondered why Noelle always got the good customers.

"I don't think you understand," the redhead growled. "I need your service _now_, there's no ifs ands or buts about it."

Ginji's eyes darted to the sword at the man's waist and took a deep breath. There was no way he was getting out of this one easily. "Could you give me four hours? I'll get the Albiore up to snuff for a flight."

The man said nothing, remaining firmly rooted in place next to the Albiore. Ginji took this as a yes, and wasted no time in getting back to work. Soon the clank of a hammer against metal filled the air as he resumed work on the wing. When he was reaching for the pliers in his toolbox a few hours later, precariously balanced on the wing with one hand supporting the engine he was reattaching, Ginji found his eyes catching on the swordsman. The man was leaning against the tree, his eyes closed, and suddenly it dawned on Ginji that he'd never learned his client's name.

"So what should I call you?" Ginji asked nonchalantly as he resumed his work on the engine.

"Asch," was the brisk reply. "Asch the Bloody."

* * *

By the time Ginji finished his work on the outside of the Albiore, the sun had already set. The interior was the next point of interest, and he carried his things inside, lantern held by his teeth as his hands were full (his coat, toolbox, and spare parts took up a lot of room). Asch followed behind him, an undistinguishable expression written on his face.

Thankfully, inside the Albiore had taken much less damage than the exterior and Ginji sighed in relief. He dropped off his things in one of the rooms onboard and was about to hop in behind the steering wheel and fly himself back to Sheridan when he caught sight of Asch. Moving his lantern so he could see the God General's face, he scrambled to formulate an excuse that would get him back to his hometown. Somehow he knew that 'my sister's home for the first time in two months' wouldn't go over well with his new employer.

"Repairs are done," Ginji announced, clearing his throat. "Though if you want them to be lasting, we should stop by – "

"Sheridan is the last place I want to go to," Asch said venomously. Ginji was about to object, but he caught himself before the words slipped through his lips. He had to follow the client's orders, after all.

"Where do you want to go, then?" Ginji asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"The Radiation Gate," Asch stated, tapping his foot against the floor. Ginji winced; he had no idea if the repairs on the engine would last that long. He voiced his concerns to Asch, who didn't seem to take the news well.

"If we could stop in Baticul on the way, I can assess how the Albiore is doing and determine if it needs more repairs," Ginji mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, if that's no trouble to you."

"So be it," Asch growled after a few seconds pause, sitting down stiffly in one of the seats. "Lets get a move on."

"Um, sir…"

"Asch."

"Asch, you might want to put a seatbelt on." Ginji waited for a minute, but the God General seemed intent on ignoring his request. Shrugging his shoulders, Ginji started up the airship.

The take off went well, and he wove a few tight circles (earning the satisfying click of a seatbelt being fastened) before pulling into a loop-de-loop and speeding off to Baticul.

Ginji looked over his shoulder at Asch, expecting some biting comment from the swordsman, but it seemed that the God General was too sick to comment. Smiling contently to himself, the pilot sank back against the cushion of his seat. Perhaps this job wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. The 'Repair'

_Ginji, Asch, and an Albiore_**  
Chapter Two – 'The Repair'**

* * *

_Thanks to Griffinkhan for pointing out some of my mistakes in the last chapter_,_ I'll be sure to proofread through everything when I'm reasonably awake this time._

_And thanks to everyone else for the reviews, I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. _

* * *

The trip from Sheridan to Belkend took less than three hours, but the constant drone of the pilot's voice made it all the longer for Asch, as he had tried unsuccessfully to drown out the chatter for the past hour. 

"How did you find the Albiore?" Ginji asked for what seemed to be the twentieth time; the question stemming from the fact that Asch had refused to answer all of the others. "I wouldn't think that many would go out of the way to find it… You must want this ship really bad."

"I wouldn't have taken it if I'd known that the pilot was this talkative," Asch muttered under his breath, shifting in his seat as he looked out the window of the cockpit. "Doesn't this thing go any faster? I have an important meeting there."

"If you were traveling on a boat it would take you two days to reach Belkend," Ginji replied with some traces of pride in his voice "the Albiore gets there in three hours, which means we have only a half an hour left to go."

"Can't you speed it up at all?" Asch would much rather take the meeting over his snatched pilot any day; even _Dist_ didn't talk this much in three hours.

"No," was the answer, Ginji didn't want the engine to overheat when he had placed temporary repairs on it. He had been counting on getting back to Sheridan by this time and being able to put a more permanent fix to things.

Asch only grumbled something in reply and sank into his seat further, scowl still firmly intact on his face. Ginji sighed to himself. Somehow he had a feeling that he wouldn't get this man to open up to him for a long, long time.

Belkend was reached in record time, and Ginji gracefully landed the Albiore on the outskirts of the city. Mumbling to himself about being late (along with some threats about what he would do to the pilot if the Albiore wasn't there when he got back), Asch ran out of the airship and towards the town, not even bothering to say a thank-you.

…At this point, Ginji was starting to expect it.

* * *

Three hours later and no sign of Asch, Ginji started to wonder if he could fly to Sheridan, make the repairs to the ship, and fly back with the swordsman none the wiser. 

Sprawled across one of the seats, eyes half closed, and the Albiore's schematic spread across his lap, Ginji decided against it. He would very much like to live to be able to see his sister when she next visited Sheridan… That is, if Asch decided to let him out of service for long enough to even talk to her.

Groaning something towards his captor (employer, boss, Mr. Taciturn), Ginji rolled to his feet, holding his arms above his head and stretching before turning his attention to the current task at hand. With the right wing's plating coming off, and the left wing with some engine damage, it was a wonder that the Albiore managed to fly to Belkend without crashing.

Looking through the wallet he had shoved in his toolbox (which was astonishingly empty… that new wrench he bought couldn't have emptied it that much!), Ginji decided that he could probably afford to buy the supplies to fix his Albiore in Belkend.

Closing the ship, Ginji trotted down the road leading into the city, humming a tune to himself as he carefully avoided the monsters along the trail.

* * *

"I made it to my meeting in time," Asch greeted him a few hours later, unfazed by the amount of steel, cables, and machinery that was spewed in a ten foot radius around the Albiore. Ginji, currently working on the broken engine, nodded his head. 

Asch stood there for a time, watching the pilot, and after a few minutes sighed. "You know, you could have waited for me to come back before you went into town; what if the Albiore got stolen?"

Ginji looked up from his work; face streaked with sweat and oil, and frowned at the God General. "The Albiore is of my concern, not yours," he said, adjusting his goggles as he prepared to weld two pieces of steel together.

"It is of my concern now," Asch growled, but Ginji only shrugged, unwilling to be pulled into an argument over his airship. "I'm going to –"

"Do you know a man called Dist the Reaper?" Ginji interrupted, not looking up from his work. Asch looked at the pilot with mild surprise, he hadn't heard the silver-haired man use such a cold voice in the few hours he'd known him.

"I don't see why it's any concern of yours," Asch responded.

"If you do, please tell me," Ginji said, now looking up. "I have something pressing to discuss with him."

Asch didn't answer, though he knew whatever the pilot had planning wasn't in Dist's favor just by the expression on Ginji's face. He'd have to ask the other God General just what he'd done to tick off the man from Sheridan.

"Anyway, I'm going to bed," Asch said when Ginji returned to his work. "I expect you to go to bed at a decent hour as well. I don't need the Albiore crashing right after you've repaired it."

"Good night," the pilot responded automatically, picking up a hammer from the ground. "You can choose any of the rooms except for the first one on the right; that's mine."

Asch left and Ginji got back to work, making sure that his jacket was still wrapped around the tree branch he had left it on. If luck was on his side, he'd be able to finish before sunset, though by the amount of damage he had found, he had a feeling he'd need to find some candles before long.

* * *

By the rings around Ginji's eyes the next morning, Asch was willing to bet that the pilot hadn't slept a wink all night. The Albiore was looking better than ever, and vaguely the swordsman wondered where he had found the time to do all of the repair work, put everything together, polish the entire outside, and then straighten up the interior. 

…Not that he was complaining about the superior state of things, but he was miffed that the silver-haired pilot hadn't followed his orders to get some sleep.

"I got you some breakfast from town," Ginji said, pointing at a steaming cup of tea and a few slices of toast left on the small table in the center of the cockpit. The pilot stifled a yawn as he took a sip from his own mug, rubbing the back of his head idly.

Asch took him up on his offer, and he watched the groggy pilot as he ate his breakfast, very tempted to send Ginji to bed and avoid the entire worry of him falling asleep at the wheel. Today wouldn't wait though, and he had some very important items he needed to attend to in Baticul right away.

"Are you up to flying?" Asch asked as he took a sip of tea; Ginji shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess," he said through a yawn, "it'd have to be short though, I haven't time to run through the test drive to make sure that the repairs all worked."

"Baticul."

Ginji looked at the map hung on the wall behind him, contemplating the distance for a few minutes before nodding. "I think we can do it if we cut across the marsh. When do you want to head out?"

"The sooner, the better," Asch replied, handing Ginji his empty cup when the pilot gestured for it. He followed the silver hair with his eyes as the other man walked down the hall to the small kitchen onboard. "While we're in Baticul I can get you a few things for this ship of yours if you still need them, I can't have this piece of junk crash whenever I need something done."

"The Albiore is _not_ a piece of junk!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later found Ginji at the helm of the ship with Asch slumped in the seat beside him. The airship was moving steadily through the skies, and the Marsh was passing under the ship steadily. Ginji fought to stay awake as the scenery rolled by… 

The marsh was so green….

The sky was so blue….

If he closed his eyes for just a second he wouldn't miss that much…

"Ginji!" Asch's voice called him back to the present, and Ginji quickly pulled the Albiore out of the nose-dive it had started.

"Sorry," he mumbled, biting his lip and forcing his eyes to remain open. They were halfway through the Marsh now, and it would be only a half an hour until he could land the airship and get that rest he wanted so much.

The silence lasted for about ten minutes, Ginji successfully staying awake, and Asch keeping a careful eye on the pilot. It was when a clunking entered the whine of the engines did Ginji feel all traces of exhaustion erased.

"Don't tell me…" Asch groaned.

"I could've sworn I fixed the engines!" Ginji cried in dismay as the sound grew louder, soon culminating into a loud BANG as the engine on the left wing gave out, and the two found themselves holding on for dear life as the Albiore spiraled out of control into the marsh below.

Pulling on the steering wheel, Ginji managed to ease their descent just enough to avoid blowing the entire airship as it crashed into a ream of flowers floating in small pond. He felt a jarring impact and immense pain before the darkness consumed him and he knew no more.

* * *

The silver-haired pilot woke up to a blue frog-monster staring at him intently. Crying out, Ginji sprung to his feet, only to have his right ankle give out and to send him face-first into the thin film of water and mud that coated the majority of the marsh. 

Hissing in pain, Ginji sat up, rubbing his head and attempting, for the most part, not to panic as the monster hopped forward. For all he knew, it wasn't attempting to hurt him, and he instead focused his attention on assessing his injuries.

His right ankle was twisted, he had a large gash down his left arm, and his head sported a rather large bump (not to mention that his coat was ruined and he was soaking wet). Looking around himself, he spotted the Albiore about ten yards away, it's left wing sunk into the pond, and the right almost vertical from the ground. Asch was nowhere to be found.

Moaning to himself, Ginji crawled to his feet, picking up a stick laying on the ground and using it as a crutch as he moved through the marsh towards his airship. From this distance he could see a hole where he had crashed through the glass of the cockpit, though there wasn't a second hole for Asch.

Asch's whereabouts weren't revealed eve when Ginji managed to limp up to the start of the pond and sit down on a downed tree by it.

The pilot hoped that he hadn't killed his employer. He needed someone to vouch for him if he ever hoped to becoming a big shot like his sister (Aston didn't trust him after that incident at the Highlands). By the looks of this situation, things weren't going to be much better.

A muted roar sounded somewhere nearby, and ripples began to play on the surface of the water. Ginji looked around wildly, soon spotting the source of the problem.

There was Asch, running towards him with a speed that the pilot envied, and behind him was a beast so large that Ginji almost fell off the log in shock.

"Wasn't the Behemoth supposed to be a _myth_?"

* * *

_Not to proud of this chapter, I'm afraid it was a tad bit rushed (and perhaps a bit OOC?), but this starts the plot arc for the next few chapters and I really wanted to get it done._

_Oh well, I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review!_


	3. The 'Refuge'

**Chapter Three – 'The Refuge'**

_Thanks to my reviewers, I really appreciate it!_

* * *

"What are you doing just sitting there?" Asch's voice cut through Ginji's awe, and the pilot stumbled to his good foot, carefully picking up his walking stick before limping as far away from the beast as possible. He knew he was going slowly, Asch's mumbled curses behind him told the entire story, but that didn't stop him from at least trying to escape what would be certain death.

He eventually gave up, stopping a few feet away from a patch of large yellow flowers, breathing heavily. The throbbing in his leg was worse than before, and Ginji suspected that he had broken it instead of the sprain he had passed it off as. He had no time to reflect on this discovery because he was promptly plucked from where he was standing and tossed rather roughly over Asch's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Ginji managed to yell over the bellows of the beast behind them.

"I'm saving you," Asch replied gruffly, "now shut up and let me run."

Asch sprinted away from the Behemoth, turning sharply when the beast caught up to them and plunging into a pool full of large yellow flowers. Ginji was dropped unceremoniously while they were under water, and carefully he swam to the surface, looking over the large petals of the flowers to see the Behemoth spin in its tracks as the pollen from the flowers drifted towards it. Ginji watched as it disappeared into the marsh, spiting out the water in his mouth when he was able to breathe again.

"Lucky we landed near these," Ginji muttered, paddling to the shore of the pond. He sat in the shallower water, now thoroughly soaked, and looked around the area in an attempt to find his "employer".

Unfortunately, Asch was once again nowhere to be found.

Swearing something under his breath (and hoping that the God General hadn't drowned) Ginji carefully got to his feet and began to limp back to the downed Albiore. If he was to exist in the marsh alone, he certainly needed his trusty wrench to attempt to fend off some of the lesser monsters.

"Note to self," Ginji muttered to himself as he found that the airship was much farther than he had thought, "don't attempt to fly on thirty minutes of sleep _ever_ again."

------

Ginji sometimes wished that he had taken up medicine instead of technology. Sure he loved his machines and gadgets, but sometimes it just wasn't worth it. Like today, for example, after hauling himself up to the Albiore he had discovered that he had no idea how to set a broken leg.

The bandages and splints from the first aid kit were strewn around him and the set of directions in the metal box were unfolded and carefully set just close enough for him to read and not slosh water on them. Unfortunately, whoever stocked the kit had forgotten to include the material for repairing his leg.

"You banged yourself up pretty good," Asch's voiced came from behind him, and Ginji whirled around to look that the God General. The redhead was as soaked as the pilot and his sword had a streak of crimson across it.

"Yeah, I did," Ginji admitted sheepishly, shying away of the blade and the blood. Asch seemed to pay no mind to it as he put his sword on the slanted ground, kneeling down next to Ginji and taking the medical supplies from him.

"You're lucky I learned this in the Order," Asch grunted, easily constructing a splint for the broken limb. He quickly wrapped it up with the bandage, and knotted it tightly. Ginji stared at the result of Asch's labor, obviously thunderstruck that his employer had known what to do.

"Thanks," Ginji grinned up at the other male. The man grunted and offered a hand to help him to his feet.

"You need that leg for fixing the ship," he replied darkly, "that's the only reason why I did it."

"Of course," Ginji replied, resting his broken leg. Though it still hurt, he could walk on it without the worry of the limb giving out. He quickly made his way over to an indentation under the pilot's seat where his toolbox was usually stowed.

Unfortunately, the red container was not there.

------

Asch grumbled something under his breath as he stabbed his sword into the mud underfoot in an attempt to discover where the toolbox had gone. He really didn't understand why he was out here in the first place helping the pilot find the dratted thing, so he just passed it off as a desire to get away from the swamp before the Behemoth found them.

Ginji was across the small pond the Albiore was stuck in, pacing in circles around a small area that Asch assumed had been where he'd landed in the crash. By the look on the pilot's face, the toolbox wasn't over there either.

Of course, the case could be anywhere in this swamp, thrown out of the Albiore in the crash and sucked into the bottom of the muck that covered the ground. It would take years to cover the entire area, and even then, Asch was certain that they wouldn't be able to find it.

"Ginji," he called, the pilot's head snapped around to look at him. "Can you make repairs without your toolbox?"

"I might have a few wrenches scattered around my room," Ginji called back, "but I don't think I'll have enough to actually make any lasting repairs."

Asch could feel a headache coming on, and attempted to ward it off by rubbing his temples.

"The real problem is that I don't know how to get the wing out from the pond," Ginji continued, obviously not noticing (or ignoring) Asch's trouble. "If I could get that engine out and we level the ship, I could probably figure out what I can do with the supplies I have."

Ginji looked at his beloved ship thoughtfully. "With one engine out, I might be able to get over to Baticul…"

The pilot continued on in this train of thought, babbling on as Asch attempted to, unsuccessfully, to block him out.

Almost five minutes later, a period in which Asch had cleaned his sword, looked around for the infernal toolbox one last time, sheathed his sword, and managed to rid himself of his headache, Ginji had finally come back to Auldrant.

"…So what do you think?"

"I agree," Asch grunted indifferently, making the pilot frown.

"Did you listen to anything I said?" Ginji asked, sounding offended. Asch stared at him, and the pilot let out an exasperated sigh. "I was wondering if you had an arte that could get the Albiore out of the mud."

Asch continued to stare, and Ginji groaned. "You know, like Grave or Ground Dasher, or something like that!" He waved his hands around for emphasis, but Asch didn't look any closer to paying attention.

"Do you hear me?" Ginji waved his hand in front of the God General's face. "Nod your head or something!"

Asch blinked a couple of times, and Ginji noticed a faint glow surrounding the God General. Having a very limited knowledge of fonon usage, Ginji immediately began to worry, and he reached out and grasped the man on the shoulder. "Asch… Are you okay…?" 

There was no response from Asch except for the slight move of his lips in what looked to be words, and a thoroughly unnerved Ginji was very tempted to limp back to the Albiore to find the medical instructions and attempt to figure out how to help his boss. He had a bad feeling about leaving Asch alone in the Behemoth-roamed grounds, so deciding not to leave his boss behind, he attempted to pick the God General up over his shoulder.

Unfortunately, his broken leg decided to give out under the extra weight, and Ginji found himself once more submerged into the muddy waters of the marsh. He was not there for long, because a gloved hand plucked him by the collar from the murky depths and held him aloft.

"What did you do?" Asch demanded; his wet hair plastered against his forehead and sword unsheathed in his other hand.

"I was trying to help," Ginji said nervously, "you looked like you were under a trance…"

"I was talking to the dreck," Asch said darkly, "or at least I was trying to when you dunked me into the water."

"S-sorry," Ginji replied, rubbing away some water that trickled into his eye. "I was worried about you, was all."

Asch released his collar, and Ginji splashed back into the water. The pilot surfaced a few moments later, spluttering, only to see the swordsman stalking off.

"Be sure it doesn't happen again," Asch's voice called.

"What about helping me with the Albiore?" Ginji cried out, but the God General had already disappeared into the marsh.

------

After rummaging around the interior of the Albiore, Ginji was able to find three hammers (including his favorite one, handily tucked away under his pillow); four wrenches (that didn't include the new one that had cost him half a year's savings); one blowtorch; an assortment of bolts, screws, and nails; and a single screwdriver.

After shrugging off his damp jacket, Ginji buckled on one of his many tool belts and filled it with the equipment he had found. Running a hand through his drying hair, the pilot limped up the steep incline of the ship, intent on making repairs to the air-borne right wing.

After shimmying up the rise of the ship, climbing out a window, and almost falling off the wing, Ginji was about to pull out a hammer and begin work when he spotted a very familiar shock of red hair.

"Asch?" Ginji called, spotting the swordsman sitting on the very tip of the wing. "Asch, what are you doing up there?"

Asch didn't answer, and Ginji carefully crawled his way up the wing until he was just behind the other man. "Asch, are you listening?"

"I heard you the first time," the God General replied with a scowl. "I've been trying to figure out what spell to use to help you."

Ginji took a seat next to Asch, swinging his legs carefully over the side of the wing. "I appreciate it," he said, fingering a stray thread on his tool belt. "What have you come up with?"

"The only arte I can use to help you with this is Stalagmite," Asch replied, "but I'm not sure if I can get the wing surfaced unscathed."

"I'm sure that the wing will be much better out of the mud," Ginji said thoughtfully. "We might as well give it a shot."

------

"Stalagmite!"

Asch bellowed the spell's title a few hundred feet away from the marooned Albiore, Ginji standing directly next to him, watching with a pensive frown as the spell began to take effect.

The ground began to shake violently, and soon a jagged spike of rock shot up directly under the left wing of the Albiore, propelling it up from the mud of the marsh. Ginji let out a whoop of joy and was about to rush towards his beloved ship when another spike, this one larger than the last, drove up through the wing. Ginji stopped in his tracks and watched in horror as a third spire borrowed its way into the metal of the left wing, a horrible scraping noise pervading the air.

"That could've gone better," Asch remarked calmly from behind the pilot. Ginji whirled around, face livid.

"Gone better? You almost destroyed the wing!"

"Its out of the mud now, isn't it?"

"That's not the point! I now have a huge hole in the middle of the wing to repair! Do you know how much – "

Ginji was cut off as a bellow tore through the air behind him. Whirling around, he found himself face-to-paw with the leg of the Behemoth. The great beast reared on its hind legs as it roared again, and Ginji fell backwards at the sound, scrabbling for some sort of tool to use as a weapon. Behind him, Asch drew his sword.

The Behemoth was directly between them and the Albiore, Ginji realized as he drew a wrench from his belt. There was no chance to run around it, they would have to stand there and fight.

Asch had apparently come to the same conclusion and ran at the beast with a bellow of his own, sword at the ready. Ginji let out a moan, wondering how he was ever going to get out of this battle alive.

"This is just not my day."

* * *

�

* * *


End file.
